Stark Grey Eyes
by TheBlueTear
Summary: Peter Parker was your average everyday nerd with a love of science and comic books. But he never truly was average, and was never destined to be either. He was born with power and later in life unlocked more. Now he has to deal with who his mother is, father is, his powers, his intellect, bad guys, and monsters. Dangers lurk in uncertain times for Peter Parker.
1. Light at the End of the Tunnel

**Stark Grey Eyes**

The moon rose quietly overhead, unnoticed as a flower sprouts in spring. Wisps of cold air, freezing to feel, drifted across the plaza where the people danced and played. Winter had come to New York, with ice and snow blending together with the far reaching urban landscape of the city.

Here, in the plaza, a man stands out alone amongst his fellows. He has dark hair, and brown eyes that just watched the procession of ice skaters and snowball fights take place. He wears black clothing, a long overcoat, neat undershirt and pants. His shoes are shiny and wrinkled, leather worn down by frequent use.

A woman watches him from across the plaza. She has long blonde hair, and steel grey eyes, cold and welcoming. She walks to him.

They talk for the rest of the night.

…

Fall 2002

That same woman now walks away from a house with a basket on the front step. Her owl-like eyes are sharp and composed, with her purpose of walking away in mind. After about fifty yards out of sight, a flash of light occurs and she is seen no more.

The next morning, the man opens his door to find the basket with a small child in it. The child has his dark hair and eyes, but his smile was the mother's.

But, this man could not accept that this was his child. For he had never slept with that woman in his life. Just as he could not accept that she was a Goddess, or that magic truly existed.

Taking the basket with child in it, he drives to an orphanage and leaves it on their own front step. Ringing the doorbell, he walks away.

…

The Parkers were an odd couple. At least, that's what the neighbors thought.

Secretly though, they were agents of SHIELD, trained and prepared to deal with a variety of situations.

But not this. For you see, they wanted to have kids. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mary Parker was sterile and could not get pregnant. That led to where they were now, in an orphanage trying to adopt.

"And over here," the matron went on, "We have our newest addition. He looks to be about six months old and he only came here last night."

Mary looked into his big brown eyes and said, "We'll take him."

Six years later, Richard's sister said something similar, "I'll take him," when she found out that the Parkers had passed.

…

As Peter grew up, he saw strange things. Monsters, one-eyed men, and other creatures seemed to lurk in the corners of his vision. Sometimes they'd be fighting teens, sometimes not. All the same, they were there.

When he tried to ask his Aunt May about the monsters, she'd look at him confusedly and ask, "Where?"

But this was undoubtedly a monster. It was his first field trip of high school, and his science class had gone to Oscorp to talk biology. After looking around, Peter accidentally found himself in a room with all these spiders. But that wasn't the scary part. Oh no, the most terrifying part about the room was the giant man-sized spider that tried to speak to him.

"Athena's spawn! In the name of our mother, ATTACK!" It spit out.

Peter tried to leave as soon as he could, but one of the spiders hitched a ride with him on the way out. After he closed the door and caught his breath, a sharp pinch on his left hand grabbed his attention.

A red and blue spider with silver markings had bit him and left a large red mark in the center of the back of his left hand.

Quickly snatching the spider off the ground, he searched through his bag, took out a PB&J sandwich in a ziploc bag, took the sandwich out, and put the spider in before closing the bag.

Running down the hall, he catches up to his tour group and pretends nothing happened.

…

Professor Charles Xavier, headmaster and founder of Xavier's School for Gifted Children, did his routine scan for prospective students with Cerebro and picked up several pings around America. One of the most prominent new ones had sprung up in the Queens area of New York.

"This brings further investigation. Hank, could you prepare the car? I'd like to take a day trip out to New York and see if I can pinpoint this new mutant."

"Yes Professor."

...

Driving through the mass traffic of New York City, the Professor pondered the situation at hand. If he were in a more open world, all he'd have to do was post a sign saying "Mutants Welcome Here" on his front door, and the news would get out. But because of government oversight and secrecy, the mutant issue was to be hidden for the foreseeable future.

Now with mutants becoming more and more common, the rise of these so-called Inhumans, new vigilantes and supervillians, sooner or later mutants would come out and be the next reviled group.

Xavier only wished that children didn't have to deal with this, but it was as unavoidable as the sun rising in the East. His personal studies showed that mutant gene activation went hand in hand with puberty and the environment, and that it was the most optimum time for epigenetics to take place for these genes (else they might cause damage if activated too early or too late in some individuals, resulting in more disability mutations than useful).

Soon they came to Queens. Finding a local park, Professor X wheeled himself out into the shade of some trees nearby a fountain and closed his eyes. The beautiful part about his own powers was he could shut them on or off at will. The downside was that anyone's mind within his radius of reach had the same volume, and in such a populated area it was hard to focus.

But he was Charles Xavier, one of the world's strongest telepaths and such limitations were easily overcome with lots of training.

Listening to minds like the channels of a radio station, he sifted through until he found a teenage mind that was in shock and panic. Something about a one-eyed man was going on….

…

Peter was absolutely shocked and in panic. After the tour of Oscorp, he stepped outside to get back on the bus when a man came over to him.

The man had a big bulky suitcase and was extremely tall and broad chested. "Hey, excuse young man, could you help me find a building nearby?"

He had two fierce green eyes the color of rotting pine.

"Ss-sure." Peter said. "Where do you need to go sir?"

"Oh so kind, so gentlemanly. I need to go to the nearest restaurant to eat dinner! Do you happen to know where one is?"

Feeling uncomfortable, Peter replied, "Uh, yeah. There's a good Chinese place a few blocks away. You just take a right down this way and-"

"Oh could you come with me! I'm horrible at directions!" The man's green eyes were fierce and heavy, with hunger deep in their shades of emerald.

Glancing at the bus nervously, he saw his classmates already loaded up. Some were looking at him weirdly as if to say, "We're waiting for you dumbass!"

"I-I actually have to get going. If you take a right and then follow the block down and make a left, you'll get there."

The eyes turned angry. A rough scarred hand came up and grabbed Peter by his right shoulder. The man started to walk, pushing Peter in front of him.

At this time, to Peter, his eyes turned singular, one massive dark green eye focused in the middle of his forehead. 'Cyclops,' Peter thought.

Getting pushed into an alley wasn't fun by any means. Getting pushed there by a really strong one eyed giant was terrifying. Peter was scared and worried. It was only hours before that the Spider Incident occurred.

For some reason, the bus started to take off without him, as if they lost interest in waiting. This stayed in the back of Peter's mind while he dealt with the situation at hand.

Pushing him up against a wall, the Cyclops roared, "ARRGGH! You smell a lot stinkier than some of her other kids. Maybe that makes for a better meal. Only one way to find out, don't you agree!"

Peter, wide-eyed, tried to think of things to say, "WAIT! Are you gluten or lactose intolerant!"

"What even IS GLUTEN!"

Hesitating, Peter continued. "Uh, are you allergic to any nuts or fruit?"

The giant stopped. Closing his eye, he murmured to himself. "Am I allergic to nuts? Let's see, I've had peanut butter…"

Peter caught his breath while the giant mumbled out nuts he's eaten. 'Think Peter, think!' looking around, he saw no one, and that the alley only had one exit. If he could escape the cyclop's arms, he might be able to run for it….

At this moment, a car pulled up to the side of the alley. At the sound of the door opening, both Peter and the giant stopped and turned to look. Coming out of the black car was a man with blue fur, and a bald man in a wheelchair.

"Peace. Stop hurting this child at once!" Baldie yelled out.

The giant grumbled and yelled back in a sweeter sounding voice than should have been possible, "Oh, me and my son are just taking a walk sir!"

Baldie narrowed his eyes at the giant. "Your mind tricks are useless against me. Go begone!"

The Cyclops was getting angry. "Make me old man!"

Said old man smirked and concentrated his eyes on the beast. Soon the Cyclops began to stumble around. His knees bent and he fell to the concrete. His hands started to come up and hit his own face. After about three minutes of this self pain, the giant just flopped onto the ground not moving.

Peter froze. "Wh-what'd you do to him?"

"Oh he's not dead, yet at any rate. I merely erased his memory of how to walk and talk. He's no more a threat to you or me than a tree."

The blue man laughed. "Yes, Professor. Except when some telekinetic kid starts throwing the tree around."

Rolling his eyes, the man in the wheelchair introduced himself and his partner, "I'm sorry, we haven't met properly. I'm Professor Charles Xavier of Xavier's School for Gifted Children, and this is my colleague, Doctor Hank McCoy. Would you mind if went to your home to talk to you and your guardian?"

"Umm… Can I get back to you on that Professor? Aunt May is working late tonight. Perhaps you could come over next Sunday?"

Charles smiled. "Sure, I just need your name and address and I'll meet with you and your Aunt on Sunday. This has been a stressful day for you hasn't it? It might be good for you to have some downtime to process everything. Something like this is a big shock to the system."

"Thank you, Professor," Peter smiled back.


	2. Peter's evolving! Who's that Pokemon?

Peter's body ached all over. Pain went down his spine as it grew and reshaped. Muscles started to tear and regrow, bigger and stronger. His screams were loud and shrieking, interrupting his Aunt from chopping up vegetables for dinner. Dropping her knife, she runs to his room to check on him. His body is red, his eyes are unseeing.

What she can't see is the glow in the room. The unnatural power floating about as Peter underwent his transformation. His unseeing brown murky eyes were the cause. They were glowing a stark grey. Imagine yourself surrounded by a storm that covered the entire sky. Now, imagine yourself in that storm, on the coast, with the dark water lapping like hungry dogs. Feel the wind hitting you like snake bites, sharp and ruthless. Surrounded by all sides by a dark, cold, and unfeeling world, that what Peter's eyes truly looked like. If you knew how to look.

In a panic, May rushes to her phone, dialing 911 as her blue eyes fixated worriedly on her nephew - no, her son.

"911, what's your emergency?" The operator asks.

May takes a big gulp. "My.. my nephew. Something's wrong." Her inflection, breaking with worry at the end.

"Ma'am. I need you to first tell me your name, his name, your current location, and what is happening to your nephew. Can you do that for me?"

"Y-yes. Of course. I'm May Parker. May Annette Parker. My nephew's name is Peter Benjamin Parker. We are at home right now, the address is 4738 Brookers Lane, Apartment 23." Taking a deep breath, she continues, as Peter screams louder in the background.

"He's screaming like he's in pain. One moment, everything's fine, I'm chopping carrots for this new vegetable soup to eat, and he just starts to scream. He's still screaming now, loud and… I don't know what happened! He went on a fieldtrip today at Oscorp and everything was fine when he got home, except for this weird bug bite on his hand. He was looking a little pale and under the weather so I thought I'd make some soup for him to feel better. But… this, I don't know what to do!"

"May, you said something about a bug bite? Is he allergic to any bugs or snakes? Anything at all?"

"No, Peter isn't allergic anything, that I know of. We've gone to doctors and everything's checked out in that past."

"Okay, I need you to calm down. An ambulance is on its way. Now, the two possibilities that are most likely right now are that A) he's undergoing anaphylactic shock or B) that bite released some sort of venom into his body that's fast acting. I need you to test Peter for a few things while the ambulance is on its way. Can you do this May?"

Shuddering, she answered, "Yes. How do I start?"

With that, May Parker went to work to save her nephew.

…

Shining lights burned down on him. The sun peaked out into his room from the window, rising slowly in the sky. The scent of medicine and rubbing alcohol filled the air. Peter slowly opened his eyes, wincing as he saw how bright it was. Sitting up, he found himself in a hospital bed, with flowers on a table next to him. Across the room sitting in a chair was his Aunt May. Her head was tilted to the side, her breath coming in and out steadily. She was sleeping with a jacket as a blanket covering her chest.

"Aunt May?" Peter asked quietly, wanting answers, but not wanting to interrupt his Aunt's sleep.

Her eyes fluttered, till they opened. Yawning, she spoke unclearly, "Get ready for school Peter… I'll make breakfast…"

Snapping open this time, she looked and smiled. "Peter! You're awake! Oh I was so worried about you!"

"Wh-what happened exactly?"

"The doctors have no clue, I have no idea. You were screaming in pain, your body was all red. They thought it might be an allergic reaction to that bite you got yesterday or maybe some venom for a spider or snake, but they couldn't confirm anything. They had to sedate you to stop screaming, Peter. What do you remember?"

Glancing down at the tiled blue floor, Peter mumbled out his answer, "I don't really remember anything after I got home from yesterday May. I remember having this really weird dream though. There were spiders everywhere. You know how usually, I'll have dreams where the spiders attack me? This time, they were just watching me, weaving and threading their silk into elaborate patterns. I didn't know what to feel… They were scary, but they weren't hurting me either. They were just watching me."

May sighed and put her head in her hands. "We'll figure this out, together."

Peter responded quickly, "Yeah, together."

…

When Peter got home, he realized that he could see without his usual square framed glasses. After finding them in his room, he puts them on and realizes he can't see clearly out of them anymore. "Weird." He mumbles to himself. Putting the glasses down on his nightstand, he goes to walk away. Before he leaves his room, he looks back to the glasses and frowns.

His glasses stand on the corner of his night stand, a cluttered pile of nicknacks and papers. Most were scientific papers that Peter read and then annotated in his freetime with a blue pen. Some were old classwork from school, but again was mainly scientific in nature. This stack of loose paper sat in the middle of the nightstand, weighed down by an old trophy Peter earned when he was young. The statue was a golden man with the world on his back, trying to lift it up off himself. At the base of the statue was an inscription, 'Never let the world weigh you down, reach for the stars,' followed by Peter's name and the year 2010.

Peter remembered that day he earned that trophy like it was no other. He worked hard to prove himself, and he designed an experiment to show how plants could possibly grow on other planets. Using scientific data on exoplanets, he constructed five technological terrariums, encased with glass and having specialized tanks installed to set equivalent (to the exoplanet's) atmospheric levels for each gas. He included a mechanism on top to simulate rain, so he didn't have to compromise the atmospheres to water the plants. Then, he put a variety of plants in each one, and found that those with more carbon dioxide available grew faster than those exposed to high levels of say helium or hydrogen. Because of the nature of the project and the complexities that Peter went to do his experiment, he won at the national level for junior science experiments.

He was only eight at the time. After the contest, because he won, they gave him tickets to the Stark Expo. When he went to the Expo, everything was better than he imagined, and he even bought a stupid little plastic Iron Man helmet and gauntlets at the end. That was when all those bots attacked. He knew he could get killed. But, in his adolescent mind, he thought maybe, just maybe, 'if I pretend to be something I'm not, they'll leave me alone.' So he raised his gauntlet, and acted like a hero. When his real hero, Iron Man came in and blasted the bot to pieces before he could be killed.

After that, he decided that he wanted to be just like Tony Stark, billionaire and Avenger.

...

May set out his lunch for him. "So, Peter. I know yesterday was a busy day, but I never got to hear about your field trip! How was it!"

Peter grinned, his teeth shining in the yellow light. "It was great! The experiments they're doing at Oscorp are amazing!"

"Do you think you'll intern there Sophomore or Junior year?" May asked.

Dunking his grilled cheese into his tomato bisque, he replied, "I mean. I guess… sort of?"

May rolled her eyes. "I'm not interrogating you. Besides, I thought you'd want to work at Stark Industries anyways."

"Yeah. I've always seen myself going there instead."

"So, anything I need to know about next weekend? Any plans? I was thinking we might go take a little trip out of town to have some fun. A camping trip maybe?"

Wincing, Peter replied, "Uhh… Actually, could we hold off on doing that? There's this Professor Xavier who wanted to meet with you on Sunday."

May's eyes widened. "Oh. _Of course_. I- yes. I'll make plans to meet with him this Sunday."

Confused, Peter glanced over at her. "Huh?"

"Don't worry about. Now, I got to get to work now. If you need me, I'm at the library."

"Yes Aunt May!"

"Clean up for me dear." Picking up her purse and a light jacket, May stepped out the door. Looking back, she saw Peter there sitting and just eating his food. "I love you, Peter," She whispered, closely the door.

Peter jumps and looks to the door. "You say something May?"

Upon seeing the door closed, he shook his head, and went back to eating. Only to find that his spoon was crushed in his hands. "What?"

Placing it down on the red tablecloth, he glances down at his tomato bisque. In the hard to see reflection of the orange soup, his eyes are illuminated with a greyish light.

Shaking his head of any ideas, he finishes the meal and goes to put everything in the dishwater. Only to find that the stack of bowls was stuck to his hands. He kept trying to release them, only for nothing to happen. Getting frustrated, he bangs the bowls on the bottom of the sink, cracking one, and his hands unstick from the bowls.

"This is getting weirder and weirder everyday." Peter says to himself.

Putting the incident in the back of his mind, he goes to do his homework that's due Monday.


	3. RED

Later that night, when Peter was asleep…

Dark red and black covered the cavern he was in. A crack in the ground started to glow a fiendish yellow and orange. It was the color of marmalade, with fire entwined within.

A hand started to claw at the red dirt, coming up out of the crack. A groaning started to echo throughout the cave system. The ground started to shake. Rocks began falling down from the ceiling.

Peter ran to the only spot possible, towards the weird ass hand. It was black, burnt with sharp bones sticking out. A whisper reached his ears, " _close the doors…_ "

Waking up, Peter jumped out of his bed. Sweat covered him. Panting, out of breath, Peter looked wildly around the room. Getting up, he turns on the light, and there on his nightstand is the hand from his dream. It was draped over his statue, the hand holding the globe with a piece of old yellowed paper in between it and the globe.

On the paper it said in neat handwriting,

" _Beware the rise of Gaea. Close the doors."_

Stamped on the bottom of the note was a black wax seal. It showed a spider spread out on a web, with a circle surrounding it.

The next morning, when Peter got up and ready for the day, the rotting hand was gone and only the note remained.

Getting ready for school, he packed his bag with his gym clothes, a homemade lunch and his regular notepads and binders for school. Thinking on it, he decided to also pack an extra grid lined notebook.

Waking May up, he put the tea kettle on and sat at the counter. School started at 8:45 now that Peter went to highschool. Well, more specifically he went to Midtown High School, one that specialized in sciences, mathematics, and engineering. Checking his analog watch, it was only 7:12.

After May got up and fixed him breakfast, he was off to school.

It was strange at first. Going to school without his usual glasses was garnering some looks from people. It didn't help that now, Peter could smell a lot more than he remembered. It was almost overwhelming how much perfume, cologne, and sweat permeated the air of Midtown.

On top of that, everything seemed so loud all of the sudden. People usually talked quietly before school, yet everyone seemed to talk at full volume today. Stressed out, Peter headed off to a quieter place: the library.

The library of Midtown had multiple purposes. For one, it was a massive three story library. Second, like in many libraries, there were work tables set out for students to work at. Some were clustered on the two top rings of the library, but the majority laid in the middle, right below the sunroofing. Third, the library also had a computer lab for students to do research on. There were four rows of just computer spaces for students' use. Fourth, there was an additional room off to the side of the main entrance, what was known colloquially as the Career Center, but was more of a closed door presentation room with desks and a projector available. The school counselors were the ones who used it mainly, but other clubs, groups, and presentations utilized it when the room was free. Over the years, the school even added a calendar to it, showing when the room was free or not, and if it was, you could write on the calendar to use it. Fifth, towards the back of the library, there was a few game rooms for students to use at lunch or after school. A while back, some kid donated his Wii to the school and ever since then, old consoles, TVs, iPads, you name it, became a part of these rooms. Eventually, the librarians, out of pocket, decided to buy some bean bags, a couple of chairs, a few tables, a ping pong table, and a bunch of board games for kids to use.

At 20 till 8 in the morning, there were only five others in the library.

Taking a spot at one of the tables, Peter brought out some French homework he had to do.

'Pensez-vous du president français? Écrivez cinq à sept phrases décrire pourquoi vous pensez ça.'

Groaning to himself, he began to work on it.

Focused on his work so much, he didn't notice the girl for a while.

She had red hair, the color of red velvet cake. Her skin was pale and freckled. Her eyes were soft and vibrant green. They were the color of a meadow, lush and full. Her nose was small and petite. She wore light blue jeans with sharpie drawings all over them. On one leg, it looked like she had scales near her knee, while the other leg had a more decorative lattice pattern on her upper thigh. She wore a dark gray T-shirt, splashed with different colors of paint markings and stains. She had several bracelets on each hand, each one corded and handmade. She wore small turquoise hoop earrings. Her backpack was white. Key word, was. It looked like she'd taken some pink and purple sharpies and drawn floral designs on it, which actually looked really beautiful.

This frizzled red-headed girl just looked at him from across the library. Peter furrowed his eyebrows and looked back at her. "Can I help you or something?" He asked.

This girl just laughed and took that as an invitation. Walking up and taking a seat at the wooden table, she said, "Oh sorry about that. I just had this new idea for a painting when I saw you. Sorry to make you feel uncomfortable."

Peter didn't know how to take that. "Uh, okay? I guess."

The girl kept smiling. "I'm Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare's my name. Call me Red, and you'll be dead. Capiche? And you are?"

Confused, Peter replied. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker. Uh.. don't call me PP?"

Laughing loudly Rachel replied, "Oh god, that's even worse than my initials."

Grinning, Peter said, "Yeah… It's pretty bad."

Rachel then sat back a little straighter. "Now, I know this might seem strange coming from a stranger, but you're in danger."

Alert, Peter responded with wide brown eyes. "What?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I can see your eyes glowing Peter. I've never seen anything like that before…"

Stumbling over his words, "Y-you can see it? What else can you see?"

Harrumphing, Rachel replied, "Oh. Plenty. I know about the monsters: triclops, and cyclops, minotaurs, and centaurs, gorgons and Ladon. I know much more than just those too."

Shocked, Peter spit out, "Bu-but.. Why are they are? Why can we see them and not others?"

"Oh, I know why _you_ can see them, but not me. It might have something to do with my bloodline or something. Maybe it was my inner talent for open-mindedness that allowed me to see through the Mist; I honestly don't know."

"Wh-what? You aren't answering any of my questions! If anything, I'm more confused now than ever!" Peter grunted out.

The librarian shushed him from her desk.

In a quieter voice, with green eyes sparkling, "Sorry about that Peter. I just got carried away. It's my first time doing this after all, and with the new rules put in place, you'd have been found and recognized eventually. I just thought that, hey since we're going to school together, and your eyes were glowing, you were… one of us, so to speak."

Peter, getting angry and upset, said, "One of _who_ exactly?"

Rachel grinned, unbelievably taunting and unbearable. "Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Peter just glared at her.

Ignoring his glare of doom ™ , she continued as if nothing exciting was happening. "Look, I didn't come here today to give you all the answers. You'll get them soon enough."

Lashing out, he asked, "And how do you know that?"

Not fazed, Rachel sped on. "Again, you wouldn't believe me. I'm here to warn you. Something's going to happen to you, Peter." Her eyes started to glow. In a raspy voice she spoke again. " _In two days' time…"_

Shaking her head, she started to pack up and leave. "I'll see you later, Peter. The bell just rung."

…

Peter was distracted throughout the rest of the day. His friend Ned kept trying to get him to open up about what's going on, but Peter just wasn't feeling it today.

In Math, they had a quiz today, and the rest of the period was just freetime to work.

After taking the quiz, Peter brought out his new notebook and started to jot down what's happened to him. In a list, there was:

 _Spiderbite - powers? Glowing eyes?_

 _Xavier + McCoy -who are they?_

 _Monsters? -cyclops, minotaur, centaur, Ladon, gorgon - all Greek…?_

 _Why can I see them? What… am I?_

 _Called Athena's spawn by Giant Spider… am I…?_

 _Dreams - spiders? Hand + note?_

 _Rachel + note… both warned me…._

 _Two separate warnings or linked?_

 _Spiders - spider bite?_

None of this gave any firm answers to Peter. Frustrated, he closed his notepad, and just rested his head for the rest of the period.

While in English, they were able to use school provided laptops to do some research for an assignment on. After spending roughly half the period getting a good chunk of sources researched, Peter's mind began to wonder. Opening a new tab, he typed 'Greek monsters'.

It lead him to a Wikipedia list for different pages of Greek Monsters, Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Heroines. Undecided, Peter clicked on Athena's page. Skimming over it, he read how she was the patron of Athens, and was a warrior goddess that might have been born from Zeus' head/mind. It was unclear how that worked to Peter.

The most interesting part was on Arachne. Peter knew that the name 'arachnids' meant coming from Arachne, but he never really bothered to read why before.

It was… odd to say the least. Peter got the feeling the three possibilities on Wikipedia were muddled and didn't have everything correct. Based on all the stories, it sounds like Athena tricked Arachne into a weaving contest because Arachne was boastful. Then, it was unclear who won, and why she was turned into a spider. Some people thought she was turned into a spider out of pity; others think she was turned into a spider as punishment.

Frowning to himself, Peter closed out of the tab and went back to work.


	4. Starkbucks

After school, Peter walked home as usual, after his Decathlon practice. Since he's taken this path for at least a month now, he's gotten used to the different streetlights and traffic. Jumping off the curb, he tumbles and lands five feet ahead of where he meant to jump. Shaking it off, and looking around to make sure no one noticed, Peter walked on, unaware of the camera on those very streetlights.

…

Opening the front door of his apartment, Peter shouted out, "May, I'm home!"

Going to the brightly lit living room, Peter saw his Aunt hunched over working on… something? It looked to be scientific or help journals.

"Hey," Peter said gently.

Not looking up from her reading, she replied, "Hey kiddo. So I think we need to talk today. So in a about an hour, we're going to go out for an early dinner okay? Why don't you go ahead and get started on your homework?"

Soft brown eyes scrunched in confusion, "Um. Okay, Aunt May."

Peter turned to leave. Unseen by Peter, his Aunt lifted her head and had worried blue eyes trained on Peter's back as he left the room.

May flipped to the next page of her journals. The first paragraph was as follows:

 _When confronting your child about a secret you already know, you have a few options to get them to admit it to you. Either make them feel guilty, and have them tell you on their own, or be honest and frank with them about it. The first choice is usually preferable when the kid has done something wrong, whereas the second is for when the secret isn't harmful. However, a third approach would be to coax out the information from them by asking questions. It might start to feel like an interrogation with this method, so if your kid isn't opening up, stop prying immediately._

…

Seated in a local Chinese restaurant, Peter and May shared a plate of house chow mein with fried potstickers and a war wonton soup. The atmosphere was loud and busy. Diners filled the restaurant with waiters and waitresses walking down rows taking orders and giving refills on drinks. Oriental decorations littered the place, with red lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Towards the front of the establishment, where the host had his podium with menus to the side, sat a counter with a pile of oranges and sweets around a round plump bronze figurine.

With a great sigh, May began her quest. "Peter, I know something has changed since the field trip."

Chopsticks and mouth full of chow mein, Peter froze with a deer in the headlights look.

Slowly chewing, then slurping up the noodles, he responded, "I… don't know what you're talking about?"

Unimpressed, May rose an eyebrow. Peter slumped over, unsure and scared for what could be.

"Okay… yeah, something's happened since the field trip."

May asked, "What happened? Do you want to talk about it?"

In a bland tone, he responded, "I don't want to, but it's not fair to you if you're in the dark."

Continuing from there, he describes the powers he's exhibited, from super-hearing, to sticking to things, etc.

Compassion and curiosity shone in May's eyes. "How do think you got these powers?"

Peter hesitated before replying, "While I was on the field trip, I got bit by a spider in a lab."

May let out a chuckle, "Only you Peter."

Grinning from ear to ear, he said, "Yeah, it's something that'd only happen to me."

Turning serious now, May started, with turquoise blue eyes unwavering, "Peter, I need you to promise me, that whatever you do with these powers you'll be safe, okay? I can't live with the idea that you're running around in plain sight using them where anyone can see. You need to take precautions for your own safety if you plan on using these powers for good, got it young man?"

Gulping, he replied, "Yes Aunt May."

"Good, now, why don't we head on home." Turning to the waiter, "Excuse me, could we get a check please?"

"Sure, right away Miss." Handing the receipt to her, he winked and said, "I gave you my number as well, just in case you want to meet sometime."

Rolling her eyes as he walked away, Peter laughed and said, "I called it!"

With a soft smile, she said, "Yeah kid. You did."

…

Tuesday passed quickly. At school, Peter tried to talk to Rachel and ask about her warning, but she since she was a junior, he didn't share any classes with her.

At lunch, he guess he was focused on Rachel throughout because Ned said, "Dude, you're staring at her."

Peter said, looking away, "I was not."

"Was too." Thinking on it, Ned replied, "You know… you used to do that with Kenny Roberts and Trisha Lee too…"

' _Oh no.'_ Peter thought.

"Do you like like her Peter?" Ned asked in the most serious voice he could muster, which is to say, he sing songed.

"No, I don't like or dislike her. It's just… I'm confused by something she said," the brown haired teen said.

Ned, curious asked, "Well, what did she say?"

Peter, unsure whether to tell the truth or not, settled for, "She was just giving some friendly advice, that's all."

Ned's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh, I get it. Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it too much. A lot of rumors are going around about her giving unsolicited advice to people. Don't think about it, man."

Peter, unconvinced, said, "Yeah, I guess. So any news on the Death Star set yet?"

Ned's whole face turned into a smile, as he started to gesture wildly and explain it to Peter.

When school ended, Peter decided to go to a nearby Starbucks to work on some of his homework, wanting a little variety in his schedule. Opening the door, the first thing he noticed were the snake women. Three of them sat in one of the booths, each with twin snake tails as legs. Wary and frightened, Peter opted to ignore the monsters, and pretend that he didn't see them.

Waiting in line, he listened in on their conversation.

The right one, a light green serpentine lady, with a sharp and defined face debated fiercely with the others.

"I'm telling you, Lizanne! Kronos could have won if only he didn't choose a weak demigod as a host. He should have followed what those Egyptians do and-"

Lizanne, with a more greenish blue color with a softer rounder face, said, "Isabelle, we get it. You're still sore over losing in the war. Get over it. It's been two months since that one half-blood - what's his name again… Perry Johnson? No! - Percy Jackson. It's been two months since Percy Jackson defeated Kronos. It's time to move on."

The middle one, a dark green women, jumped in. "Yesss. It isss time to move on."

Rolling her eyes, Lizanne said, "We both know you're over pronouncing s's, Susan. There's no reason to do so when it's just us."

Pouting, Susan replied, "Yeah, but it's a hard habit to break. Anyways, look Isabelle, Lizanne is right. It's time to move on from Kronos' failed war. Instead, we could help _her_ instead."

Thinking it over, Isabelle and Lizanne both nodded in agreement. The former responded, "Yeah Susan. I think you're right. It's 2016! Hillary Clinton might just be the first female President of the United States. Why can't a goddess rule the world either?"

Snapping out of it, Peter ordered his drink and some food and grabbed a seat at one of the high round tables. Pulling out his homework, Peter worked until he heard his name being called.

"Peter? Your order is ready!" The employee yelled from the counter.

A blond girl grabbed his food before he could get up and grab it. Confused and a little mad, he watched as she walked towards him with grey eyes blazing.

Pulling up a seat, she pushed his order towards him and glowered at him.

"Um, hi?" Peter asked a little forcibly.

"Hi." The girl, who looked to be about sixteen, grunted out.

"What… are you doing?" He blurted out.

Glaring at him, she spat out, "I was minding my own business, taking a break from designing temples and cabins, when you just had to show up and get their attention."

"What…?"

Unfazed, the girl continued her rant. "I'll have you know that this is becoming very inconvenient at times. Gods, I need a vacation. Every time, I swear to Hades, every time I take a break, something pops us. 'Help us with building a sand castle, Annabeth?' 'Do you want to go see a movie, Annabeth?' Those questions are what people should be asking me. Instead I get, 'What are those monsters?', 'Am I going to die?' and 'What- so the Gods are real?' Do you know how frustrating this can be! Gah!"

Peter, befuddled, just stared at her.

Sighing, Annabeth cooled down and said, "Sorry about that. So, I'm Annabeth, Annabeth Chase. Do not call me Anne, Annie, Beth, or any variation of my name. It's Annabeth. What's your name? I know your first name is Peter based on your drink, but what's your full name?"

Peter cautiously said, "Why should I tell you that?"

Annabeth rolled her grey luminescent eyes. "I'd have figured it out soon enough anyways. I could just look down at that English assignment you're working on and figure out your last name, but I thought it'd be better for you to tell me it yourself. Just tell me."

Peter replied after thinking it over for a mintute, "It's Peter. Peter Parker."

Annabeth's eyes sparkled. "Ah, so you're the one that Rachel was telling me about."

Gaping, Peter stuttered out. "Y-you know Rachel? Can you tell me what she meant by-"

Annabeth cut in, "Sorry, no time. I'll explain soon, but first off, we have to leave as soon as possible. Those _dracaenae_ \- the snake ladies - have been watching you for the past five minutes."

Trying to glance over at them, Peter stopped when she said, "Don't. They will start to come over and attack you if you look right now. If you don't, they'll come up to you themselves and clear the place out."

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter noticed that a dagger was attached to Annabeth's hip, within a dark brown scabbard.

"Okay, here's the plan," Annabeth said. "We're going to leave together and go over to the nearest park. They will follow us there. Once they come, when we fight, all the mortals will run away. Do you have a weapon?"

Shaking his head, he responded, "No, I- what? Shouldn't we just call the cops?"

Rolling her eyes again, she said, "No, because they won't see the dracaenae. They'll see teenagers beating up on three women. Who do you think they'll try to arrest?"

"Oh."

Tensing up, Annabeth said, "Okay, pack your things, we need to go _now_."

In a panic, Peter loaded his backpack up with all his papers and pens. Leaving his half-eaten sandwich and drink, he quickly followed Annabeth to the park.

Her pace was fast and brutal, when Peter finally caught up to her, she said, "Don't look back, they're following us."

Nervous, Peter started to crane his head to look. "I said don't!"

When they reached the park, people were lazing about on the grass with kids running and playing ball. Turning around finally, they stood on a grassy hill, towards the middle of the West Queens Community Park. The dracaenae were - running? Slithering? - towards them on tree trunk thick snake legs. They held swords in their hands, and seemed to scare off everyone else in the park.

Coming the the hill, Annabeth held up her dagger to wait for them to charge. Isabelle, she quickly came up and tried swinging at Annabeth, but the blond was faster, and swiftly cut her neck straight through. A shower of gold dust blasted everywhere.

Flipping over, she ran to Lizanne and deflected the monster's own swing of the sword. At this time though, Susan snuck up and held Peter up, with her sword against his throat.

"Help- help me Annabeth!" Peter yelled out, scared and freaking out.

Annabeth tried to finish off Lizanne, but Susan said, "Don't! That'sssss enough half-blood. One more move and he getsssss it."

They stood at a standstill. Lizanne was down on the ground, with Annabeth's dagger pressed against her. Peter, still held hostage, was starting to calm down and _think_. What could he do, he wondered. ' _Aha!_ ' He thought to himself.

Biting Susan's forearm, he ducked and barely managed to not flinch when Susan swung her sword to where his head was. "Gah! I'll kill you!" She yelled in pain.

A wide gash was across her chest now, dripping dark green liquid.

Peter, now on the ground on his back, tried to get up to defend himself while the snake lady came over. Standing over him, she pointed her sword and aimed to finish the job.

Just then, Annabeth's dagger came through the back of her chest. Susan screamed and then start to fade into gold dust.

Peter, covered in green blood and gold dust, questioned, "Ho-how did you-?"

Annabeth interrupted, "You provided a distraction, I took it. Now, I don't have the time to tell you everything today; meet me here tomorrow at four."

Peter just nodded dumbly.

Scoffing, Annabeth said, "And clean yourself up. You look horrible."


	5. Gerald's Game

Peter slammed the door behind him. Rushing to the bathroom, he stripped out of his clothes. A couple of dark red scratches were around his neck, along with the green blood and gold dust. Oddly enough, they were already starting to scab over.

Stepping into the shower, he turned the nozzle and cranked the temperature to blazing, boiling hot. Sighing, he slid to the shower floor, back against light blue tiles.

Head in hands, he started to breathe in and out slowly as the watered poured down all around him.

Green water with glitter dripped down off him and swirled down the drain.

' _Peter…'_ A masculine voice said. ' _I need you to breathe. Can you do that for me?_ '

Glancing up towards the showerhead, Peter replied softly, "I can't tell if you're real… or just a figment of my imagination, but I'll try." Tears dropping from face, he scrunched up his face and listened to the voice in his head saying, ' _In and out. In and out. Everything will be okay Peter_.'

May found him like that when she got home. She cried quietly as she lifted her little boy and got him dressed for bed. Tucking him in, the voice whispered again to Peter. ' _I'll always love you, don't you forget it Peter._ '

…

Rachel sat in her room. She was on an old wooden stool that had seen better days. Around her were paintings hung up on the walls of the white room. They depicted scenes of battles and monsters, men and gods. Some showed New York in a desolate state, with smoke and fire abound. Others depicted New York glistening in the sun with a weird horse shoe symbol around it.

Now she stared mournfully at the painting in front of her, weeping silently to herself.

Spread across the big canvas was a tragic scene. It took place in Greece, based on the archichitecture that was illustrated. Great white columns stood around a courtyard where young men and women played a game. Discs of bronze flew threw the air while watchers cheered on the players.

The middle on the scene showed something heartwrenching and out of place. One young man laid out on the ground, with blood pouring out from behind is head. To the side sat another man, with golden hair. His face was in agony as he cradled the injured one's head in his head. Off to the side was a disc edged with blood.

…

Peter could tell right away, Annabeth was annoyed he was late. It wasn't exactly his fault but, it was unlikely she'd even want to hear his excuses.

Meeting in the park might have been a good idea yesterday, but now it seemed… stupid. The weather was horrible. It was windy and cold. Any sane person would have gone indoors to get warm but, no. Peter had to meet the crazy girl with the dagger.

Annabeth pursed her lips and then began.

"First thing you have to know: the Greek Gods are real."

Peter stared at her. Rolling her eyes, she sped on.

"You are the son of one of the Greek Gods or Goddesses. We're what are known as demigods or half-bloods. Half human, half god."

Peter continued staring. Muttering to herself about dumb boys, Annabeth started again.

"Greek monsters are also real and hunt demigods."

At this, Peter asked, "But why?"

Blushing to herself, Annabeth replied, "Some have been around since before the gods, others are children of different deities in the Greek pantheon, some children of the Gods themselves. Others were mortals who were turned into monsters by one God or another."

A light went off in Peter's head. "Like Arachne?"

Widening her eyes, Annabeth shook a bit before answering. "Y-yes. Like Arachne."

Confused, Peter shook his head. "How am I going to find out who my godly parent is? I was adopted and the orphanage found me on their doorstep."

Grimacing in pity, Annabeth sighed. She took a minute before responding.

"Well… Once you go to camp you at least will know that. Only about a month ago there was a giant war here in New York. It was us, the Hunters of Artemis, and a few others against the Titans and children of some of the minor gods. We won, but it cost us heavily. In the end, my boyfriend Percy Jackson was able to stop Kronos, the leader of the Titans, from destroying the thrones of the gods. He denied godhood to instead have Camp Half Blood be open to all demigods, with all of them having to be recognized by the age of twelve. That included some extra stipulations, but I don't think you need to worry about that right now. Before, only the Olympians had cabins. Now more are being built for all the other gods. You will have a home with us, Peter. It might not be what you were expecting… but it's the best we can do."

Peter grinned a little. "Okay, but how do others not see monsters like we do?"

Scrunching up her eyebrows in thought, Annabeth replied, "Well, that is because of the _Mist_. It's this all existing fabric that can be controlled by people, gods, and even monsters. In Ancient Times, the Mist was used less frequently, with more power behind it. That is in part because your average Joe believed in all the Greek Gods and monsters out there. What was the point in hiding if everyone thought you existed? Now, people don't have the same faith anymore. They still _respect_ Greek culture for all that it has brought them, but they don't _believe_ in the same Gods any longer. Due to that, the Gods decided it would be better for the Mist to hide the truth from mortals, to preserve their innocence and maintain the status quo."

Deep in thought, Peter questioned, "Yes, but does that imply that the Gods were created by the imagination of mortals or that the Gods have always existed but needed some people to believe in them? And why are the Gods here in America?"

Sighing, Annabeth responded. "To be honest, the Gods have not given a straight answer to your first question. I know that other pantheons of Gods exist, but I don't know if they all form the same way or if they existed prior to people believing in them. It could be that some do the first and others do the latter. It's hard to get a straightforward answer because in most mythologies, creation stories are included. So if both the Greek and Egyptian pantheons exist, how was the world created then? We don't know and likely never will. As to your second question, the Greek Gods move with the heart of Western Civilization. They moved to Rome after the romans conquered Greece, and after that moved to other places in Europe. They've been here in America since prior to the American Civil War."

Nodding his head, Peter asked, "So, what now?"

A gun cocked in the background. Three red dots appeared on Annabeth's chest. Trying to warn her, Peter opened his mouth, but a shot rang out from across the clearing.

Annabeth's eyes widened and she tried to move Peter before the bullet hit, but she was too slow.

Peter slumped into her arms. Rushing towards them were groups of dark clothed men and women with protective armor and guns. Emblazoned on their chests was a symbol.

It was an eagle with its' wings spread out.

…

When Peter woke up, pain was the first thing he expected. While his back was sore, he was amazed to find that there was not wound from the bullet. Taking his blessings, Peter took stock of the situation.

He was in a blue room on a plain bed. His left hand was handcuffed to the bedpost. On the nightstand was a glass of water close to his right hand where he could reach it easily.

' _Okay gather your thoughts Peter._ ' He thought. Looking around, he realized that mortals must have caught him. They used guns and had protective armor after all. ' _But why would they capture me_?'

Opening his eyes wide he thought, ' _Did they catch Annabeth too? Is she here in a different room_?'

Not knowing the answer to that, he sighed and settled down. ' _If I was a secret mortal agency, why would they catch me? Maybe they saw me use some of my powers? Could they see something like that? Or would they be blind to it because of the Mist?_ '

Pondering that, Peter stared up at the bare ceiling. ' _Assuming they know I have powers… They probably caught me to find out what they are and who I am. Another thing they'd need is my DNA if they want to find out why I have powers…_ ' Glancing back towards the glass of water, Peter gasped.

"Of course." He muttered.

Staying silent, Peter went through all that he knew so far. He had powers. The Greek Gods (and others?) were real. He and possibly Annabeth were captured.

Listening to the sound of the AC, Peter concentrated. ' _There are no limits except those that I think exist,_ ' He thought. Closing his eyes, he focused on his hearing. Through the sound of the AC, he could make out footsteps walking down the halls. Steadying his breathing, he continued. Three guards outside his door were breathing lightly. The ones walking up and down were talking amongst themselves in light voices about some sort of project. Across the hall, he could hear arguing. Focusing on that, he heard a woman's voice say, "Director, they're only just children. We can't lock them up without a reason."

A deeper voice replied, "I understand your concerns Agent Hill. But, I don't feel comfortable with them roaming the streets without us having any information on them. Question the older girl. Have her brought to Interrogation Cell 3 but don't use any of the regular tactics. Just ask her questions about who she is and who that boy is."

With a sigh, Agent Hill replied, "Yes sir. And the boy?"

The Director said to this, "I doubt he's even awake right now. When he does wake, just give him some coloring books or something. He's what - thirteen? He won't cause much problems. Just keep an eye in case he is enhanced like we suspect."

"Yes sir. Although, coloring books? Really sir?"

"That's what my nephew liked to do when he was thirteen." The Director defended.

Coming back to his own body, Peter looked at his left hand. The handcuff was standard metal, with no gizmos attached.

Making a decision, Peter pushed away from the bed. Almost immediately, the handcuff snapped and fell apart.

Quickly taking the water glass, he poured it out close to the door, and smashed it to the ground.

A trail of water and glass lead out from the door now.

Hearing more footsteps closer to his door, Peter rushed up the wall and onto the ceiling. Staying there right above the door, he waited.

As a woman opened the door, she stepped out onto the water and slipped. Falling backwards, Peter climbed through the open door from the ceiling and quickly made his way down one of the hallways.

Behind him, guards were coming to the woman and helping her up. As she stood back up, she looked into the room and saw he wasn't there. "Lock down the base!" She yelled. "The boy escaped!"

Red lights started to flash in the hall. Quickly running upside down, Peter saw an intersection down the hall. A group of men were marching towards him from the left. Crouching up, he stayed quiet and watched them pass.

As he watched, he noticed that there was a sign on a door down the right hand corridor. It said 'Retrieved Items'.

Quickly going over to it, he quietly opened and then shut the door.

Looking around, he saw cubbies and lockers around the room. Opening one up, he saw that there was some jackets and other things, like car keys and wallets.

Quietly pursuing this, he saw a big blue binder with a list of locker numbers and names.

Looking down the list, he saw that there was 'Unknown Boy Age 13-14 Locker #64' and 'Unknown Girl Age 16-17 Locker #65'.

Looking back at the lockers, Peter found the two without much effort. Grabbing the locker doors with his hands, he pulled it off from the wall. In his locker there wasn't much, only his coat that he had on earlier and some cash in a plastic bag. It seemed that they didn't take anything of his, but he was still cautious about the whole thing. In Annabeth's locker, there was a satchel with a laptop in it, as well as her own coat and cash. Looking in her satchel, he saw a crumpled up piece of paper. Taking it out, he unfolded it and saw written down, ' _I'll meet you here. Don't worry about me._ _3.141 Farm Road, Montauk._ '

Sighing, he took out the laptop and opened Google Maps. "Looks like I'm going on an adventure," he muttered to himself.

Finding the place on Google Maps, he saw that it was a strawberry farm. "Why does she want me to go to a strawberry farm out in the middle of nowhere?" He asked aloud.

With determination, he closed up the laptop and stuck it in the satchel. Opening the door, he quietly looked to see if there were any agents down the hall. Seeing that there were none, he slipped out and booked it.

…


	6. AND THEY WERE NEIGHBORS

Peter wasn't sure what he expected when he reached this farm in the middle of nowhere. He took a taxi as soon as he could after escaping the secret agents' base. Some people tried to follow him, but he switched taxis three times and took the subway to get them off his trail. He had to dodge at least three monsters on the way as well, with one weird seal thing being on the subway train.

Now, standing at the edge of the road, he saw a dirt beaten path leading up a hill with a large pine tree on top. Muttering curses to himself, he walked up the hill with Annabeth's satchel still on his hip. Coming up the hill, he saw a great Greek arch with Camp Half Blood inscribed on the top.

Without much more fanfare, he walked under the arch, leading him to look down from the hill onto a valley full of buildings and fields. It looked to be a fully functioning summer camp with a large blue house down the road close to the entrance. A good sized strawberry farm spread out to the left. Behind that was a large area filled a mix of usual summer camp things, like horse stables and cabins, as well as a Greek forge, arena, and amphitheater. Further out was a large forest with a big pile of rocks jutting out like a fist. To the right was a good sized lake that fed into the Atlantic.

A little in shock, Peter didn't notice the campers coming up to him until they were close enough to ask questions.

"Hey kid! You new here or something?"

Peter could only nod dumbly. The two campers smirked at each other.

"Alright, let's take you to Chiron for your introduction. Who was your guide here? Was it a satyr or another demigod?"

"Satyr? Umm no, Annabeth directed me here."

At that they laughed, "Of course she did. You're the third demigod from her this week! At this rate she's better than half of the satyrs. They're getting a little jealous of her, you know, and are trying hard to compete with her."

Peter didn't really know how to respond to that so he just laughed a little and said, "Yeah."

The one on the left of him motioned for him to follow. "I'm Connor Stoll, by the way. This right here is my older brother, Travis Stroll. We're sons of Hermes. What about you?" The young man asked this as they made their way to the house.

"Oh, I'm Peter Parker. I'm sorry, but what exactly is this place?"

Laughing, Travis responded. "This is Camp Half Blood. Home of the Greek demigods of today. We're taking you to the camp directors now. How much has Annabeth told you?"

Peter tapped his chin before replying. "Well, we're demigods, the children of a mortal and Greek God or Goddess. Monsters from Greek mythology actually exist and hunt us… for reasons? The Mist exists to keep mortals from seeing us use powers or fight monsters. Uh… The Gods are in America because it's the heart of Western Civilization for now? That's pretty much it."

Connor looked over his shoulder, grinned and said, "You know a lot more than the ones the satyrs bring, that's for sure." The two brothers fist bumped at that.

Coming to the house, the two led him to a side porch where two men were sitting and playing cards. One was wearing this garish red Hawaiian shirt. He had dark hair and vibrant violet eyes. A sense of madness lingered around him. The other was an older gentleman in a wheelchair. He had fair features, with soft blueish eyes, and longer brown hair, with an accompanying beard. They were playing a complex game of Go Fish as Peter walked up to them.

Looking up, the one in the awful shirt muttered, "Great, another brat to take care of. Oh well, I do believe it is your turn to do the spiel, Chiron?"

Glancing at Peter, Chiron introduced himself. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood. Who was it that brought you here, young man? And what do you go by?"

"Oh um, Annabeth brought me here - I'm Peter, by the way - and I was actually wondering if she was here yet? We got into a tough situation, but I found her bag along with a note to meet up with her here."

Raising an eyebrow, Chiron picked up a card as he answered, "No, she is not here yet. Hmm, why don't you leave her stuff in the Athena cabin when you go through orientation. She'll turn up as soon as she can. You didn't happen to find a baseball cap with her bag, did you?"

Confused, Peter answered, "Uh, no, why?"

"Oh no worries. I was merely contemplating what actions she'll likely take to get here. Alright, -Go Fish, Dionysus- have the Stoll brothers show you around camp. You'll likely get claimed at dinner by your godly parent."

"Oh alright, thanks Mr. Chiron, sir. And you, Lord Dionysus," Peter said bowing his head in respect towards the other he rightfully assumed was the God of Wine, who merely asked to Chiron, "Got any threes?"

Walking back to the two brothers, Peter thought about who his godly parent might be. What if he was the son of Zeus himself! That would make him half-siblings with many of the Ancient Greek Heroes, such as Hercules (or is it Heracles?) and Perseus. Or what if he was the son of two gods? Like, some secret love child between Hecate and Hades that was uber powerful and would be the heir to the underworld! Better yet, what if he had three godly parents, one of them being from another pantheon like Annabeth implied was possible. Hell, Thor existed, maybe he really was a god and not an alien as most assumed. Oh, what if he was the son of Thor and some god like Hermes, along with Hecate? He would be super duper uber powerful with him being the heir to Asgard after Thor, but also some sort of Harry Potter like wizard capable of astounding feats!

At this point his logic shouted at him to look at the facts. He didn't have powers over lightning or water, or death, or magic (to his knowledge). He was just, smart. Yeah, he had super strength and agility, and could stick to stuff, but that was because of the weird (probably monsterly too) spider bite. And, _if_ , a big if at this, he really did have multiple godly parents, why would they leave him in the mortal world where he could be hurt, or where others might be hurt _by_ him?

Connor and Travis grinned and chatted with him as they showed him around camp. Apparently, it really was a summer camp, but some campers stayed year round. As the Second Titan War just happened, it was seen as a bit of a blessing for Annabeth, who was in charge of designing cabins for all the lesser gods and rebuilding all the ones that were damaged and/or burned down. Some satyrs and druids were marking out new foundations while a few dozen pegasi were flying around transporting supplies and workers from Olympus. All the original twelve cabins still stood in their horseshoe like shape around a lit fire pit.

Showing him more of the same things he saw on top of the hill after that, like the tennis courts, rock lava wall, and canoe lake, they finally took him to the beach. There he saw a demigod swimming in the water like a dolphin. Like, jumping out of the water and diving back in the span of a moment. He was kind of cute, from the flashes he did see, but not really Peter's type at all.

Connor called out to the demigod that Peter dubbed Surfer Boy in his head.

"Hey Perce! Nice tricks dude!"

Travis waved to 'Perce' as he flipped out of the water, grinned, and waved, before quickly submerging himself again. Travis nudged Peter and said in explanation, "That's Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and basically our version of a Modern Greek Hero. He's actually dating Annabeth, lmao."

Peter stared and asked hesitantly, "Did you just say… lmao?"

Travis looked blankly ahead while Connor just laughed at his brother.

Dinner at the pavilion was quite an underwhelming experience. Yeah, sure, magic cups and sacrificial braziers, whatever. It was pretty mundane in all honesty, as everyone ignored long held table rules and sat wherever they liked during the off season. The only exciting part was that Annabeth somehow found her way back to camp, and was nuzzled up against Percy as they ate dinner. She gave Peter a smile and nod as he walked to sit with the Stolls.

At the end of the meal, Dionysus announced that, "We have a new camper amongst us. Please welcome Perry Marker!"

Grimacing, Peter sat as everyone applauded. Connor leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry, he does that with everyone. Even if you've been here for years." Relaxing a bit at that, Peter paid attention to Chiron, as he stood up- _wait, he's THE CHIRON?_ \- on all four legs and raised a toast.

"To Peter, to the Gods!"

Everyone copied him and drank from their cups.

Right after the toast, people began to look up just over his head. Shining there in grey was an owl with its wings spread out. A small little red spider hung in its beak.

Chiron himself looked a little confused, but not worried. Kneeling, he called out, "All hail, Peter Parker, son of Athena, blessed and cursed by Arachne!"

After dinner wrapped up, Peter sat in the Athena cabin with his new found sister Annabeth.

"So… we're…?" He hopingly ventured.

Laughing a little, her steel grey eyes softened a bit. "Yes, of course. We're siblings, and not the only ones either. We have quite a few in our ranks." She smiled as she answered his question.

Lying on one of the couches, Peter curiously asked, "Is it normal to be blessed and cursed by Arachne?"

Annabeth frowned. "Cursed - yes. All Athena's children are cursed by the Mother of Spiders. We all have arachnophobia because of her. Her children follow us almost constantly, even in our dreams." Pausing, with a hand on her chin, she continued, "Being blessed, now that is highly unusual. Unless you somehow got her blessing forcibly."

Stumbling for the right words, Peter blushed under her intense stare. "Well, uh you see…"

Waving his hands emphatically, he tried, "I got bit by a monster version of a spider that I think was being scientifically experimented on. Since then, my eyes glow, at least to those who can see through the Mist. And… well, I sort of…", here his voice trailed off and mumbled, "... have super powers?"

Annabeth stared at the hall behind Peter's head while she mumbled to herself in thought. "Hmm… well if that happened… then… they must have wanted… yes of course…"

Snapping back to reality, she asked, "What sort of powers?"

"Uh, super strength, agility, flexibility, metabolism, healing, senses, and this really weird trick where I can stick to stuff." Peter grinned while he listed off what he knew what he could do.

"TO WALLS?" Annabeth practically screamed.

Wincing, Peter dumbly replied, "I… actually don't know. I haven't tried that much yet."

Grimacing to herself, Annabeth told Peter, "We'll talk more about this in the morning. I have to do some research to see about this project. Why don't you lie down and sleep. Do you need to let anyone know you're gone?"

Peter bounced up. "Oh my god! Aunt May is going to kill me… I have to call her!"

Annabeth pushed Peter down before he ran out of the cabin. "Peter, that agency that kidnapped us was mortal. They likely are tracking her every mode of electronic communication if they managed to find out who you are and what powers you have. You need to lie low for the time being."

"But… how else can we contact her?" Peter asked forlornly.

His sister smiled wide and said, "We'll just send her an IM."


End file.
